JUSTINE
DVD region 2. Anchor Bay (UK) / Blue Underground (USA)
Jess
Franco's first flirtation with a Marquis de Sade novel must
have been a dream come true for a director whose career is built
upon the depiction of sexual exploration. Justine is
one of a pair of films Franco made with producer Harry Alan
Towers based on the work of the notorious novelist, the other
being Eugenie.
The
story of Justine unfurls in the mind of the imprisoned
and mentally tortured Marquis de Sade (played by cinema's most
noble of monsters, Klaus Kinski). From deep inside his heavily
fortified cell, the Marquis has horrifying but erotic visions
of Justine (Romina Power) and her sister Juliette (seductively
portrayed by the dependable Maria Rohm). From these waking nightmares
stem the story of Justine...
Having
to leave the convent because of the death of their parents the
two sisters go to Paris where Juliette willingly chooses a life
of prostitution while Justine decides to take on the big, wild
world. In her naivety she is immediately ripped off and after
a series of mishaps finds herself in a prison for fallen women.
Rescued by the unsavoury friends of feisty thief Madame DuBois
(Mercedes McCambridge), they take flight into the woods. However,
Justine must run from the salacious advances of these criminals
(led by Jose Manuel Martin) to fall in love with Raymond (Harald
Leipnitz), an artist who happens to live in the same woods.
Her saga continues as she is captured by camp (but hetero) aristocrat
Marquis de Bressac (Horst Frank) and forced to work as a servant
in his chateau. There, he plots to murder his wife and frames
poor Justine. Justine escapes and seeks refuge in a monastery
where the crazed Antonin (Jack Palance) and his cronies have
incarcerated women with whom they practice all manner of sadistic
sex games. Of course, Justine escapes and it's out of the frying
pan into the fire until she is once again reunited with her,
social climbing, sister. But can her sister save her as she
is carried toward the gallows?
With
a million dollar budget and stellar cast, this should have been
Franco's masterpiece. Instead, we're offered a rambling and
at times plain lethargic series of scenes that veer from sub-Confessions...
sex farce to yet more obscurely shot bondage scenarios that
fail to either shock or titillate. If it's a feast of female
flesh you're after then steer away from this and pick up a copy
of the shorter and sharper Eugenie. Jess Franco has always
worked better on projects of a smaller scale and has proved
time and again that he can get the most out of limited locations
and small casts.
Bruno Nicolai's classical score is in keeping with the period
setting but is not nearly as memorable as his western or gialli
scores or even his compositions for Eugenie. As usual, it's
a fine looking film and none of its splendour is wasted in Anchor
Bay's beautiful transfer. Shooting much of the film in Barcelona,
Franco cunningly uses aspects of the surreal modernista architecture
of Antoni Gaudi which add an other-worldly style to some of
the film. Memorable performances come from Mercedes McCambridge,
famous as the voice of possession in The Exorcist,
and a completely loaded Jack Palance who revels ecstatically
in the degradation of his women (among them the stunning Rosalba
Neri who knocks spots off any actress in any Franco film).
A little judicious trimming may have made the script more interesting
for this viewer but Francophiles and collectors of European
sleaze pictures will certainly want to see this film. Just don't
expect the earth to move for you.
Extras on this impressively presented DVD include interviews
with director Jess Franco and producer Harry Alan Towers, a
poster and stills gallery, a Franco biography, notes by Video
Watchdog editor Tim Lucas and the French trailer. It's enough
to make the Marquis weep with joy!
HENRY
CLARKE
BUY
IT NOW
